The Dragon Lord's Seastead

"Back off. The last of this water is mine!"

A rough hand shoved my shoulder.

My foot slipped, and I crashed onto the deck, which was bristling with wooden splinters.

My throat felt like I had swallowed sand.

I looked up at the man in front of me.

His name was Victor Pike. His face was thick with hard flesh, and he was monopolizing the only plastic bucket on the boat that had collected rainwater.

There was only a mouthful of fresh water left in it.

"Victor, everyone collected that rainwater together. If you drink it all yourself, what are the rest of us supposed to do?"

I gripped the gunwale and stood, my voice hoarse.

"Who the hell are you to lecture me?"

Victor sneered and wiped the muddy water from the corner of his mouth.

"A useless fish-farming student isn't worth a damn in the apocalypse."

He stepped forward and pointed at my nose.

"My fists are bigger, so I get the last of the water. Got a problem with that?"

The survivors packed onto the broken fishing boat all lowered their heads. No one dared to speak.

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms.

"Put the bucket down."

I looked him in the eye and did not back away.

"Still talking back?"

Victor swung his fist at me.

At that instant, the surface of the sea suddenly began to churn violently.

Bang.

The entire boat lurched.

"What's happening?"

"There's something under the water!"

The crowd broke into screams.

A mutated barracuda more than ten feet long burst out of the sea, its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth flashing coldly.

Its thick tail slammed against the side of the boat.

I happened to be standing near the edge. The impact threw me off balance.

"Help!"

I only managed to shout that much before I plunged into the icy water.

Bitter salt water flooded my nose and mouth.

Suffocation and water pressure squeezed me as if my lungs were about to burst.

The mutated barracuda turned in the water. Its crimson eyes locked onto me.

It whipped its body and shot toward me like a torpedo.

I'm done.

I closed my eyes.

Just as the barracuda's teeth were about to bite through my neck, warmth surged out from inside me.

A mechanical voice rang through my mind.

[Ding! Host has come into contact with Calamity Water. Deep Blue Survival System activated!]

[Ding! First activation bonus granted: one Extraordinary Sequence lottery draw.]

[Ding! Congratulations, host. You have received a god-tier sequence talent: Dragon Lord!]

The surrounding seawater seemed to freeze.

I opened my eyes and saw the mutated barracuda stopped less than four inches from my face.

The madness in its eyes vanished, replaced by fear.

It was trembling.

I could clearly sense its emotions.

Absolute submission.

A vague thought flashed through my mind.

"Get lost."

I issued the command in my heart.

The mutated barracuda looked as if it had been pardoned. It clamped its tail fin and fled toward the deep sea, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

I froze, then looked down at my own hands.

Within a radius of about a hundred yards, the location, heartbeat, and even faint emotional ripples of every marine creature appeared in my mind like radar.

Ten yards to my left, I could feel a school of frightened sardines.

On the seabed to my right, an iron-shelled crab was crawling slowly.

The feeling was extraordinary.

It was as if I had become the ruler of this sea.

I took a deep breath, kicked my legs, and climbed back up the side of the boat.

"Cough..."

I spat out a mouthful of seawater and collapsed on the planks, drenched from head to toe.

The deck fell silent.

Everyone stared at me as if I were a monster.

Victor was still holding the plastic bucket. When he saw me climb back up, he stumbled back two steps in fright, spilling water everywhere.

"You... you didn't get eaten?"

He pointed at me, stammering.

They had all watched that huge mutated barracuda rush toward me. They had thought I was dead for sure.

No one had expected me to survive.

I stood up, wrung the seawater out of my clothes, and walked toward him step by step.

"Now give me the bucket."

Victor shivered and handed it over. For the moment, I had scared him silent.